OAR 848-035-0030: Continuing Competence Requirements and Restrictions

(1) Mandatory Requirements: Of the 24 required hours of continuing competence, all licensees must complete the following mandatory course requirements as follows, when applicable: (a) Pain Management: All Oregon physical therapists and physical therapist assistants must complete the online pain management module provided by the Oregon Pain Management Commission as follows: (A) At initial licensure. (B) At each renewal, unless the date course was completed for initial licensure was within one year of the renewal date. (b) Cultural Competence: Effective April 1, 2020, all licensed physical therapists and physical therapist assistants must complete a minimum of one hour of continuing competence that meets the criteria established by the Oregon Health Authority pursuant to OAR 943-090-0020 for cultural competency education. This requirement must be completed each certification period. (A) The Board shall accept courses approved by the Oregon Health Authority (OHA) under ORS 413.450. (B) The Board may accept other courses to the extent that the course includes content that addresses the examination of practitioner values and beliefs, developing and applying skills supporting an inclusive approach to health care practice that improves health outcomes by reducing health disparities and inequities, and which recognizes the context and complexities of provider-patient communication and interaction and preserving the dignity of individuals, families and communities. (2) Clinical Courses or Activities: In addition to the mandatory requirements in part (1) of this rule, the continuing competence requirements of this Division 35 may be satisfied through clinical courses or activities, directly related to the delivery or provision of physical therapy which may include: (a) Courses, seminars, activities, and workshops sponsored, certified, or approved by an established and recognized health related organization or professional association recognized by the Board, unless excluded under part (4). (b) Courses, seminars or activities approved for continuing education or competency by other states which require continuing education or competency for physical therapists or physical therapist assistants, excluding other state jurisprudence exams and other content excluded under part (4). (c) Courses provided by an accredited institution of higher education, which may include but are not limited to, courses leading to an advanced degree in physical therapy or other courses that advance the licensee’s physical therapy competence. For purposes of this rule, one college credit is equal to 10 (ten) contact hours; (d) Individual home study courses approved by an entity under (a), (b) or (c) above which require an examination; (e) Courses in cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), Basic Life Support (BLS), or Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS), will be limited to one hour of continuing competence credit, regardless of the length of the course. A licensee may receive credit for completion of a CPR, BLS, or ACLS course only one time during any certification period, however, a course may be repeated during each subsequent certification period; (f) Courses or lectures which a licensee presents if the course or lecture awards continuing competence hours to participants and the licensee requests continuing competence credit from the Board; (A) The licensee may receive continuing competence hours equivalent to the actual credit hours awarded to participants for that portion of the program which the licensee presents; (B) The maximum cumulative credit granted for presenting courses or lectures shall be no more than one third of the total continuing competence requirement during any certification period and; (C) A licensee may receive credit for presenting a particular course or lecture only one time during any certification period, regardless of how many times the licensee presents that course or lecture; (g) Publishing an article in a peer review journal; (A) The maximum credit granted for publishing an article shall be one third of the total continuing competence requirement during any certification period, up to 8 hours and; (B) A licensee may receive credit for publishing an article only one time during any certification period; (h) Serving as a certified clinical instructor as follows: (A) A licensee who has completed a Board-approved clinical instructor certification program prior to supervising a student may receive continuing competence credit equivalent to 1 credit hour for each 40 hours of direct clinical instruction to a physical therapist student or physical therapist assistant student enrolled in a physical therapy or physical therapy assistant program. (B) The maximum cumulative credit granted for serving as a clinical instructor shall be no more than one-third of the total continuing competence requirement during any certification period, up to 8 hours. (C) The licensee must obtain a letter or certificate from the student’s academic institution verifying that the student has completed the course of clinical instruction; (i) Completion of a specialty certification through the American Board of Physical Therapy Specialists (ABPTS), which shall qualify for a maximum 24 hours of continuing competence during the period in which the specialist certification is awarded; (j) Completion of a clinical residency or fellowship program accredited or recognized by the American Board of Physical Therapy Residency and Fellowship Education (ABPTRFE), which shall qualify for a maximum of 24 hours of continuing competence during the period in which the residency or fellowship was completed; (k) Passing the Board approved Oregon jurisprudence examination which shall qualify for 3 hours of continuing competence. A licensee may receive credit for completion of the jurisprudence examination only one time during any certification period, however, the course may be repeated each certification period; (l) Successful completion of the Oregon Pain Management Commission's web based pain management module which shall qualify for the amount of continuing competence credit shown on the certificate. A licensee may receive credit for completion of the pain management module only one time during any certification period and; (m) Courses or activities approved by the Board by special request. Request for approval shall be made to the Board, in writing, at least 60 days prior to license expiration. (3) Non-clinical courses or activities; optional: A portion of the continuing competence requirements of this Division 35 may be satisfied through the following non-clinical courses or activities recognized by an accredited institution or recognized health-related organization or professional association recognized by the Board. Courses completed under this part (3) may qualify for up to a maximum of 8 hours total, with no more than 4 hours maximum from any single category of coursework (a) to (d) within a certification period. A licensee initially licensed or whose lapsed license is renewed in the second year of a certification period, may complete up to 4 maximum hours total from any or all category of coursework (a) to (d). (a) Personal Development/Self Care (b) Business/Leadership (c) Professional Conduct/Ethics (d) Committee work or serving as an officer for the following: Oregon Board of Physical Therapy (OBPT), Oregon Physical Therapy Association (OPTA), American Physical Therapy Association (APTA) or the Federation of State Boards of Physical Therapy (FSBPT). Each meeting will count as one hour and must be documented with a certificate or letter signed by the Chair, Vice Chair, or officer of the organization. (4) Notwithstanding part (2) or (3) of this rule, activities which will not satisfy the continuing competence requirement include: (a) Courses provided by an accredited institution of higher education taken as part of the curriculum requirements of a CAPTE accredited physical therapy program; (b) Workplace non-clinical employee orientation programs or trainings completed as a condition of employment; (c) Courses, seminars or activities for which continuing competence hours were applied to an individual’s license renewal during the most immediate prior certification period; (5) A licensee may receive credit for completing a course, seminar or activity only one time during a certification period regardless of how many times the licensee attends that course, seminar or activity. (6) A licensee who completes more than the required number of continuing competency hours during a certification period, may request to carryover a maximum of 8 hours to the next immediate certification period. Requests to carryover hours shall be made to the Board, in writing, by February 1st of the even-numbered year prior to the end of the certification period into which the licensee wishes to carryover credits from the prior period.